The Trinity of Despair... Bringing Hope Back to the Environmental Movement

I found the talk with Professor Maniates really interesting, and it definitely expanded my views in terms of different ways to think about how social change in terms of the environment will be the most effective. The Trinity of Despair was particularly interesting because I often find myself falling into that negative trap of thinking that we will never see real environmental movements because so many people still do not believe in global warming or do not think that they should be doing anything to limit global warming. The way in which Professor Maniates framed social change, in terms of bringing up other social movements and leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi, and how he explained that those leaders had very small numbers of people behind them and were still able to bring about social change. I think that Professor Maniates' idea that social change can be brought around if small groups of people come together and alter current societal structures so that making the right environmental choices is a part of the structure and therefore simple for people who are not interested in the environment to do.

I still believe that the most effective form of combatting climate change would occur if most of the population were concerned about climate change and interested in preventing its effects. I think that the task of getting most people behind climate change will be a difficult one, however, and therefore might not be feasible. I like how Professor Maniates' ideas provide an alternative way to go about enacting social change to help the environment that, while not as comprehensive as a global movement would be, can still effect lasting and important change in terms of creating ways for everyone to act sustainably without necessarilly making the conscious decision to do that.

I think that Professor Maniates is correct to bring up the three corners of the "Trinity of Despair" and to force us confront the fact that some of our basic assumptions such as the idea that people are inherently selfish, people will only do small, easy alterations to their daily lives and the idea that everyone has to be with us before environmental sustainability can be achieved, may not be ultimately relevent in terms of the best ways to go about creating social change. We can change structures and greatly aid the environment while breaking away from the "Trinity of Despair," and that's a very promising outlook.

The talk with Professor Maniates on Tuesday made me feel more optimistic about the future of the environmental movement than I have felt about it in a long time, and I think that that in itself has value. If those who are concerned about the environment feel despair, and feel as if no real lasting change will ever be possible due to the three points in the "Trinity of Despair," then change will not happen because those who care about the environment will feel as if there's nothing they can do to help it. Professor Maniates talk brought back that glimmer of hope that the future of the environment and social change in terms of sustainable living can be achieved, if only small groups of concerned individuals, such as our class, get together and change the existing, environmentally degrading systems.